PORT
HOBART (1) was built in 1925 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham
Richardson at Newcastle with a tonnage of 7448grt, a length
of 466ft 10in, a beam of 59ft 10in and a service speed of
12 knots. Sister of the Port Dunedin she was delivered in
July 1925. On 4th November 1940 she sailed from Liverpool
as part of a convoy bound for New Zealand. Sixteen days later
she left the convoy to head for the Panama Canal on her own.
On 24th November at 11.15 hrs, as she headed for the Sombrero
Channel and the Caribbean, smoke was spotted to the north
west and closing very fast. As no Allied vessels were reported
to be in the area the master soon realised that it was German
and an 'RRR' signal was sent out. At 11.57 hrs the unidentified
raider opened fire with large calibre guns from a range of
two miles and, as instructed, the Port Hobart stopped. The
raider, which turned out to be the pocket battleship Admiral
Scheer, put an armed party aboard. The crew took to the lifeboats
and a launch was sent to disembark the only lady passenger
before the Admiral Scheer sank the Port Hobart with gunfire.
(Photo: Iain Lovie Collection)

PORT
FREMANTLE was built in 1927 by Workman, Clark & Co. at
Belfast with a tonnage of 8072grt, a length of 477ft 5in,
a beam of 63ft 5in and a service speed of 15 knots. The first
of a class of five ships she was completed in April 1927.
In 1932 a fire broke out in one of the holds while she was
at Wanganui and, with battened down hatches, she quickly sailed
to Wellington where superior firefighting equipment could
deal with the problem. During 1939-45 she remained on the
'Food for Britain' trade and was finally broken up at Osaka
in Japan during September 1960.
(Photo: Cyril Simmons)

PORT
GISBORNE was built in 1927 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson
at Newcastle with a tonnage of 8001grt, a length of 477ft
2in, a beam of 63ft 5in and a service speed of 15 knots. In
June 1930 she had the task of carrying a spare 8" gun
turret to Sydney for HMAS Australia. Weighing 90 tons it had
to be carried on deck resting on wooden beam to spread the
load. In 1931the 'slump' had made employment in the shipping
industry very difficult and in December of that year the Port
Gisborne arrived in Hull with all of her 18 deck hands holding
Second Mates tickets. Work as a deck hand was preferable to
unemployment and the ship was the best in the fleet for cleanliness
and tidiness. In those days ordinary seamen were responsible
for providing their own bedding and eating utensils but on
the Port Gisborne these were supplied by the company. In 1940
she became the company's second war loss when she was torpedoed
in gale force conditions on 10th October by U-48 350 miles
west of Ireland while participating in convoy HX 77 (Halifax
to the UK). Three lifeboats were launched. No. 3 lifeboat
capsized with the loss of 27 lives and No's 2 and 4 lost touch.
No. 4 was eventually found by a naval tug on 22nd October
and the survivors in No.2 lifeboat were picked up by Mossgiel
SS Co's Alpera on 24th October. Three ships were sunk in the
attack the other two being the Brandanger and the Davanger
both owned by Westfal-Larsen of Norway. (Photo: Iain Lovie
Collection)

PORT
HUON (2) was built in 1927 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson
at Newcastle with a tonnage of 7980grt, a length of 477ft
4in, a beam of 63ft 5in and a service speed of 15 knots. During
1939-45 she remained on the 'Food for Britain' trade and was
finally broken up at Yokosuka in Japan during November 1961.
(Photo: Cyril Simmons)

PORT
FAIRY (2) was built in 1928 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson
at Newcastle with a tonnage of 8072grt, a length of 477ft
5in, a beam of 63ft 5in and a service speed of 15 knots. In
1930 her refrigeration equipment was modified and she carried
the first cargo of chilled meat instead of frozen meat from
Australia. She then did the same from New Zealand. On 11th
July 1943 she picked up some RAF survivors from the Duchess
of York (Canadian Pacific) and was then attacked and hit herself
on the following day by Focke-Wulf Kurier bombers west of
Gibraltar. Detached to Casablanca with HMS Swale as escort
she was again subjected to a high altitude attack and was
hit aft on the port side which opened the hull and set the
ship on fire. Ammunition in adjacent cargo spaces was jettisoned
and compartments flooded to minimise the risk of explosion.
A bucket chain was set up to douse the fire and HMS Swale
came alongside and played her own hoses on the blaze which
was extinguished by 23.00 hrs. After two further air attacks
where, fortunately, no hits were recorded both ships arrived
in Casablanca where temporary repairs were effected. On 25th
December 1953, while operating on the M.A.N.Z. service both
engines broke down due to contaminated lubrication oil and
the ship proceeded to drift for three days towards the rocks
of Fatu Hira atoll. Plans were put in place to rig a temporary
sail but as this was being done one of the engines was repaired
and the ship made port at 5 knots. By 1965 she was the oldest
ship in the fleet and was sold for £126,000 for scrap
to Embajada Cia. Naviera S.A. of Piraeus. Renamed Taishikan
she made one final commercial voyage to Hong Kong where she
was broken up. (Photo: Steve Hunt)

PORT
ALMA was built in 1928 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson
at Newcastle with a tonnage of 7983grt, a length of 477ft
4in, a beam of 63ft 5in and a service speed of 15 knots. She
spent the whole of her career on the company's traditional
routes with the exception that during the war years she also
made calls to the River Plate ports of South America to load
cargoes of beef. On 30th August 1964 she arrived at Onomichi
in Japan where she was broken up. (Photo: Don Ramsey)

PORT
CHALMERS (4) was built in 1933 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham
Richardson at Newcastle with a tonnage of 8535grt, a length
of 506ft 10in, a beam of 65ft 4in and a service speed of 14
knots. Prior to her maiden voyage in January 1934 she was
presented with a green stone miniature of a Maori God as a
good luck charm. This was put on display in the saloon and
the Maoris believe that the subsequent charmed life of the
ship was due to the fact that the gift was always treated
with respect by the crew. On 3rd September 1937 she collided
with Ellerman's City of Oran off the coast of Portugal and
had to return to Falmouth for repairs. She made her first
Malta convoy run on 21st July 1941as part of Operation 'Substance'
which comprised of six stores ships and one troopship. Her
cargo included 2000 tons of aviation spirit. Escorted by four
cruisers and ten destroyers the convoy proceeded to Gibraltar
where the battleship Nelson, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal,
four cruisers and ten destroyers took over. Despite some naval
losses the convoy got through with vital supplies and was
also able to release seven merchantmen which had been trapped
since Operation 'Excess'. Although the ship was bombed while
at Malta she did not suffer any damage and in the September
sailed under the cover of darkness and successfully completed
the dash to Gibraltar unescorted. On 10th August 1942 she
sailed as part of the more well known and vital convoy, Operation
'Pedestal'. The convoy was made up of fifteen ships, which
included the tanker Ohio, and was escorted by the battleships
Nelson and Rodney, four aircraft carriers, the Victorious,
the Furious, the Indomitable and the Eagle which was subsequently
sunk, seven cruiser and thirty destroyers. The size of the
escort indicated the importance of the convoy. After four
days of constant enemy attack by U-boats, E-boats and aircraft
five merchant ships, the Brisbane Star, the Melbourne Star,
the Rochester Castle, the Port Chalmers and, eventually, the
Ohio, got through arriving on 13th August. The Port Chalmers
was the only ship to arrive undamaged. In the following September
she made a dash from Malta to Port Said where she proceeded
through the Suez Canal and sailed round the Cape of Good Hope
to the USA where she loaded munitions. Sailing back to the
UK in convoy she went through a storm which did more damage
than either of the Malta convoys. She continued to participate
in convoy duties for the remainder of the war and during the
hostilities earned twenty five decorations. In June 1965,
after a farewell luncheon and Malta convoy reunion at the
King George V Dock in London, she sailed on her 66th voyage
to New Zealand after which she proceeded to Kaohsiung where
she was broken up by Nam Feng Steel Enterprises. (Photo: Cyril
Simmons)

PORT
TOWNSVILLE (1) was built in 1935 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham
Richardson at Newcastle with a tonnage of 8661grt, a length
of 496ft 5in, a beam of 65ft 4in and a service speed of 14
knots. Sister of the Port Chalmers was deployed on the New
Zealand service. On 3rd March 1941 during a voyage from Bristol
to Melbourne she was machine gunned and bombed by German aircraft
in the St. Georges Channel off Pembrokeshire. A bomb penetrated
the No.3 hatch and exploded blowing a hole in the ship's side
and starting a fire. The 67 crew and 11 passengers abandoned
ship and were picked up by their French escort ship and taken
to Milford Haven. The ship sank the next day in position 52.05N
05.24W. (Photo: Iain Lovie Collection)

PORT
WYNDHAM (3) was built in 1935 by John Brown & Co. at Clydebank
with a tonnage of 8580grt, a length of 494ft 6in, a beam of
65ft 2in and a service speed of 14 knots. The second sister
of the Port Chalmers she was the company's final war casualty
when on 11th April 1945 she was torpedoed twice by a German
midget submarine off the outer Lade Buoy at Dungeness. Holed
forward she was towed stern first into Southampton where we
was given temporary repairs prior to permanent repairs being
completed by her builder. The event does not appear in German
records and it is thought that rather than being torpedoed
she could have been holed by a British or rogue mine. She
returned to service in September 1946 and operated until January
1967 when she was broken up at Osaka. (Photo: John Rix Collection)

PORT
JACKSON (3) was built in 1937 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham
Richardson at Newcastle with a tonnage of 9687grt, a length
of 521ft 2in, a beam of 68ft 2in and a service speed of 16
knots. On 27th August 1942 she was attacked by U-516 who fired
three torpedoes but missed. The U-boat surfaced and, before
the Port Jackson could escape, hit the ship with 2 105mm shells.
In 1952 she had to put into Table Bay where a smoldering fire
in her cargo was extinguished after eight days. She was sold
to Embajada Cia Naveira S.A in 1967 and renamed Legation for
one final commercial voyage to the Far East where she was
sold for scrap and broken up at Kure in the April. Her bell
was presented to the Sydney Marine Underwriters & Salvage
Association. (Photo: Cyril Simmons)

PORT
PHILLIP (4) was built in 1942 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham
Richardson at Newcastle with a tonnage of 9936grt, a length
of 523ft 11in, a beam of 68ft 2in and a service speed of 16
knots. Similar to the Port Jackson she was, however, built
with a vertical profile due to the war. In 1965 she was chartered
to Thos. & Jno Brocklebank carrying their funnel livery
over the existing grey hull. On 10th March 1968 she was transferred
to Blue Star Port Lines (Management), known as Blueport, a
company which had been formed to to manage the ships of the
two companies. Three years later she completed her final voyage
at Hong Kong before proceeding to Shanghai were she was broken
up early in 1971.(Photo: John Rix Collection)

PORT
MONTREAL (1) was built in 1937 by Wm. Doxford & Sons at
Sunderland with a tonnage of 5882grt, a length of 438ft 10in,
a beam of 58ft 10in and a service speed of 14 knots. She was
one of three ships built for the M.A.N.Z. service between
Australia, New Zealand and the eastern seaboard of North America.
On 8th June 1942, during a voyage from Halifax to Sydney via
the Panama Canal, she picked up 43 survivors of the Honduran
ship Tela but 2 days later was herself torpedoed by U-68 in
the Caribbean. Four lifeboats were lowered and all persons
aboard safely abandoned ship to be picked up later the same
day by the Colombian schooner Hilde. The official report of
the incident noted that the gun crew only left their post
when the gun was awash. (Photo in Wellington Floating Dock
- 28.2.1942: Iain Lovie Collection)

PORT
HALIFAX was built in 1937 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson
at Newcastle with a tonnage of 5820grt, a length of 440ft
1in, a beam of 59ft and a service speed of 14 knots. The second
of the three ships built for the M.A.N.Z. service she operated
until 1962 when she was purchased by Olistim Navigation Co.
of Beirut, Lebanon with Turkish money and renamed Ilena. In
1969 Olistim transferred their operation to Famagusta in Cyprus
where ownership was by their Sanspyridon Shipping Co. and
in February 1973 she was sold for breaking up at Istanbul
in Turkey. (Photo: Dick Henshaw)

PORT
SAINT JOHN was built in 1938 by J. L. Thompson & Sons
at Sunderland with a tonnage of 5668grt, a length of 465ft,
a beam of 59ft and a service speed of 14 knots. During her
maiden voyage in 1938 she stranded at Sydney Harbour on Cape
Breton Island but was refloated without damage. She later
went ashore again on Lady Elliot Island during the following
voyage to Australia but on this occasion major salvage was
required and she was towed to Sydney, Australia for repairs.
Surviving the war she re-opened the M. A. N. Z. service in
November 1945. In 1961 she was sold to Cia. Lamia de Nav.
S.A. of Piraeus and renamed Redestos. Remaining with the company
for eight year she was finally broken up at Hsinkiang in China
during the latter part of 1969. (Photo: Dick Henshaw)

PORT
QUEBEC was built in 1939 by J.L.Thompson & Sons at Sunderland
with a tonnage of 5936grt, a length of 468ft, a beam of 59ft
8in and a service speed of 14 knots. Costing £207,783
to build she was intended for the M. A. N. Z. service but
was requisitioned by the Admiralty who converted her into
the minelayer HMS Quebec. She was deployed as part of the
1st Minelaying Squadron together with the Port Napier, Prince
Line's Southern Prince and Alfred Holt's Menestheus and Prometheus.
She was purchased by the Admiralty in 1943 and converted into
an aircraft component repair ship and renamed Deer Sound but
after the war, in 1947, was re-purchased by Port Line and
converted back to her original form. On 10th March 1968 she
came under the management of Blueport and on 23rd June of
the same year arrived at Kaohsiung where she was broken up.
(Photo: John Rix Collection)